Just when you wrote them off......

[The Big Tease]

Texas comes up with a big game tonight!!! I am being suckered into this one yet again.....Texas has made me look like an idiot so far this year, and I am sure that many others have too....is that why the entire world is taking the points and Wake tonight???

I aint buying it......Texas hasnt shown anything yet, but this is a very solid team. The game being in Austin is intriguing to me....Texas is a lot better here, and will have big support tonight. Check a month or 2 down the road and Wake will not be anywhere near this ranking. They are not the #4 team in the country.....

I sure hope Texas doesnt make me out to be an idiot tonight.....


I am also playing Minnesota and Iona..

GOOD LUCK!

 

[Felonious Monk]

I still haven't decided which way I'm playing this game. My initial thoughts were to take Wake and the points but now I'm feeling like Texas might come out with a lot of intensity and play some good ball but will they cover? Line seems high to me.

I spoke with PJ Tucker Sunday night at my friend's place and he is amped for this game. He got slighted by the ACC schools and wants to make a statement in this game. We spoke mainly about the PG position which is obviously their biggest concern. Moving Ivey to the 2 spot helps but they still have kinks to work out and if you watched the Providence game you could see why they struggle in that department. This could be a sellout crowd tonight so they will have tons of support and it will be loud.

GL on your play.

 

[The Big Tease]

Hey Monk....I usually try and pull articles from local newspapers as part of my handicapping and as you well know, PJ Tucker wants this one bad as being going against his good buddy Paul (cant remember the bastards first name) tonight. Texas has the luxury of a lot of good ball handlers in Ivey and Moreno in particular so I feel like they wont lose this one by turning it over.

Texas should win the rebounding battle with ease and should get plenty of chances at the bucket......

I look for Wake to be beaten at their own game tonight....

 

[Felonious Monk]

well after much debate, i decided to play the Under here (163). true they both have high scoring averages on paper but mostly against the creampuffs. contrary to your mention of us having good ball handlers, they are shaky when they are pressured. not sure which article you read but ball handling is our biggest weakness right now. Wake doesn't do a lot of pressing, which is good to know, but they have a swarming peremiter D and clog the passing lanes well. they can also block shots and rebound pretty good.

either way, we're going to have to be clicking on offense to score points against their defense, which forces 20+ turnovers a game. Their PG Paul leads the nation in steals which leads me to think Moreno will see more minutes than Paulino.

Wake struggled to hit shots against Clemson so i think we'll see a lot of forced shots tonight and a bunch of big bodies cleaning the glass on the miss.

atleast this is how i see the game going. i'm usually way off on these predictions.

not sure i can lay the chalk with my team tonight but GL to you!

 

[The Big Tease]

I dunno Monk.....some pretty decent ratios coming from Ivey and Moreno....each have 46 assists, and Ivey has only 18 turnovers and Moreno has only 15....pretty damn solid!

The problem with this team is that two main guys from last year are not making their shots in the paint. (Buckman and Thomas)

I look for those guys to get going tonight against a fairly small Wake team.

I cant believe I am saying this after I was so pissed at Texas after their pitiful game against Duke....but this is the perfect matchup for Texas.

I like it!!!

Hook 'em Horns....isnt that what you say? LOL!:tongue

 

[Felonious Monk]

The stats may look nice because we have been in a rotation with all 3 guards at the 1, not to mention racking up numbers against suspect teams. Ivey has the best handles on the team but he is a natural 2 and since we have nobody to fill that spot besides him, the transition has been troubling at times. Agianst Providence, we often picked up our dribble too often and simply could not beat the press. Barnes admitted this was his fault because he did not see it coming (Prov is a zone team).

This week, however, Barnes has had them working on breaking every press possible. This is the reason our team was so much better last year with TJ in the lineup. We never had this problem because he simply blew right past them and created open looks with our peremiter guys. We'll see tonight what happens.